ELIS

Sep 7, 2023

Gregory Siscoe knows he will, more likely that not, die in prison. “He is not running from that. He is not hiding from that,” public defender Tiffany Holley said during a sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon. “He understands that.” Advertisement Siscoe, 70, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and a firearm charge in July , the same day jury selection was slated to begin on what would have been a two-week trial. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison. He struggled to stand as Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Michael Malone rendered his decision, having walked into the courtroom shackled and holding a cane. His leg, Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Pritchard said, is part of the reason why Siscoe killed Darius Davon Matthews last year . Advertisement A couple of weeks before the shooting, Siscoe was released from the Jennifer Road Detention Center so that he could receive knee surgery. The South Baltimore man had pleaded guilty in April to second-degree assault after attacking a customer at Clauss Liquors off Crain Highway. A condition of his release, court records show, was that Siscoe refrain from going to the Glen Burnie liquor store, where he had racked up multiple convictions over the years, including one after another shooting in 2018 . But on Aug. 26, 2022, Siscoe went to the shop’s parking lot to get some fish fry, Holley said. The prosecutor played nearby security footage that captured one of the encounters between Siscoe and Matthews. Both men were armed — Matthews, 29, had two unregistered handguns — though Matthews never fired his weapon. He quickly jerked forward and fell after Siscoe shot him in the head. Without any audio on the footage, both teams of attorneys plugged in their own theories as to what happened. Pritchard said Siscoe shot the 29-year-old because he didn’t want Matthews selling drugs near his car, whereas Holley and public defender Bridget Elis said the shooting came after a series of threats and armed encounters with Matthews. The shooting, the defense argued, was the product of a life plagued by violence for Siscoe. Elis said her client grew up in an abusive household with an alcoholic stepfather who regularly attacked both him and his mother. The attacks involved more than fists and one day, Elis said, Siscoe’s stepfather shot him in the leg. This upbringing led Siscoe to become hypersensitive to threats of violence, his attorneys argued, and he reacted “the way he felt was necessary.” “Our laws don’t perceive actions the way Mr. Siscoe does,” said Holley. “Whether that’s the reality,” Elis said, “it was his reality.” Pritchard argued Matthews probably did not want any violence that day, or else he would have fired a shot. In the footage presented in court, Matthews never raised either of his weapons. Reading parts of Siscoe’s criminal record, with assault and firearm convictions going back to 1978, and given Siscoe’s court-ordered prohibition from Clauss Liquors, the prosecutor called the defendant’s actions “ironic” and “completely unnecessary.” Advertisement “It is clear...even at his age, Siscoe presents a serious threat to the public,” Pritchard said. Members of Matthews’ family remembered him solemnly Wednesday. Pritchard read a letter from his mother, who recalled small visits they shared. Matthews, she wrote, would come in and go “straight to the fridge.” They would catch up at the kitchen table and sometimes, Matthews would take a quick nap on a couch in the living room — where he is now interred. “Justice would be my son being here,” she wrote, “but accountability is what I am seeking.” The Morning Sun Daily Get your morning news in your e-mail inbox. Get all the top news and sports from the baltimoresun.com. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy . > Family members crowded both sides of the courtroom Wednesday, though the only person who spoke was Matthews’ aunt. Listing the relatives who lost a son, nephew, grandson and more, she struggled to contain her anger. “They always say prisoners have rights,” she told the court before pausing. “But I say...you have the right to go to hell.” The comment was immediately objected to by Siscoe’s attorneys and his family recoiled at the thought. Advertisement After Malone heard from both sides of the aisle — prosecutors asked for a 30-year sentence to be served consecutively with any prior sentences Siscoe is ordered to hold; whereas the defense asked for 25 years to be served consecutively — the judge stopped to consider letters from Siscoe’s family. He did not read them aloud. Malone said he was well aware of the “permanent effect” growing up in a violent household can have on a person, but added the defendant’s “long” and “significant” criminal history was a serious concern for him. He recalled the footage he saw at the beginning of the hearing. In it, Siscoe had walked in and out of the frame several times. “There’s got to be a time where you walk away,” the judge said. Advertisement